General:

Forms of Answers

So, you've got the answer to the problem--but how should you write it in the blank? Should you round or not? Should you write a mixed number or an improper fraction? It would be a shame to mess up this last step, so make sure that you are familiar with these OFFICIAL RULES (quoted verbatim from Mathcounts itself):

• All answers must be expressed in simplest form.
  A “common fraction” is to be considered a fraction in the form where a and b are natural numbers, and GCF(a,b)=1. In some cases the term “common fraction” is to be considered a fraction in the form where A and B are algebraic expressions, and A and B do not share a common factor. A simplified “mixed number” (“mixed numeral,” “mixed fraction”) is to be considered a fraction in the form where N, a and b are natural numbers, a < b and GCF(a,b) = 1.
• Ratios should be expressed as simplified common fractions, unless otherwise specified.
  Acceptable: 7/2
  Unacceptable: 7:2, 3.5
• Radicals must be simplified.
  A simplified radical must satisfy the following conditions: 1) no radicands have perfect square factors other than one; 2) no radicands contain fractions; and 3) no radicals appear in the denominator of a fraction. Numbers with fractional exponents are not in radical form.
• Answers to problems asking for a response in the form of a dollar amount or an unspecified monetary unit (e.g. “How many dollars...,” “What is the amount of interest...”) should be expressed in the form ($) a.bc, where a is an integer and b and c are digits.
  The only exceptions to this rule are when a is zero, in which case it may be omitted, or when b and c are both zero, in which case they may both be omitted.
• Do not make approximations for numbers (e.g., using 3.14 instead of pi) in the data given or in solutions, unless the problem says to do so.
• Do not do any intermediate rounding (other than the “rounding” a calculator performs) when calculating solutions. All rounding should be done at the end of the calculation process.
• Scientific notation should be expressed in the form where a is a decimal, 1 < |a| < 10 and n is an integer.
• An answer expressed to a greater or lesser degree of accuracy than called for in the problem will not be accepted. Whole number answers should be expressed in their whole number form.
  Thus, 25.0 will not be accepted for 25, nor vice versa.

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